Student Leadership

MSSM Student Finn Dedek Selected for Bank of America Student Leaders Program

LIMESTONE, Maine - Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM), the state’s first tuition-free, public, residential high school, is proud to announce that senior Finn Dedek of Topsham has earned a spot in the Bank of America Student Leaders Program. The program connects student leaders from across the country with nonprofit organizations in their home communities and gives them hands-on experience in service, leadership, and civic engagement. As part of the program, Dedek will complete a six-week paid internship with the United Way of Southern Maine in Portland. Before that, he will attend a national leadership summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, with about 300 other student leaders from across the country. 

Dedek said a major part of his application focused on his years with the Woodside One Wheelers. In this community unicycling group, he has spent well over 1,000 hours performing, mentoring younger students, and helping to lead events. His work has included local shows, national parades, and NBA halftime performances. He said one experience that stayed with him was performing at a YMCA day camp in Philadelphia, where children watched riders close to their own age and seemed inspired by what they saw. Dedek said, “It felt like they were realizing that they could do things like that too.”

At MSSM, Dedek has taken on leadership roles as captain of the soccer team and club vice president of the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). He was part of the founding leadership group that helped launch the school’s DECA chapter, and he placed as an international finalist in competition at the Atlanta Career Development Conference recently. He also co-founded Maine Advantage Prep with students from Mt. Ararat High School and MSSM to help provide low-barrier SAT preparation for rural students across Maine. Dedek transferred to MSSM after three years at Mt. Ararat High School and said the move gave him a more challenging setting that helped him grow. He said, “I could not have done Student Leaders if I had not come to MSSM.”

Dedek said he is looking forward to giving back to the greater Portland area through his work with United Way of Southern Maine. He will take part in projects tied to childcare, healthcare, and other community needs. He also hopes the experience will help him learn about leadership and public impact. Dedek said, “I want to learn more about leading collective efforts that benefit everyone, rather than efforts that only help the people directly involved.” He added that one issue he cares about deeply is the growing difficulty of distinguishing what is real from what is false, especially in an age of AI-generated content.

This fall, Dedek will begin classes at Stanford University. He plans to keep pursuing internship opportunities during college and is interested in a future career in finance. He said the Student Leaders program feels like an important step because it shows how large organizations can support service and create real impact in local communities. He also encourages other students to start close to home when looking for ways to help. Dedek said, “Go to a teacher or a school leader and ask, ‘What is something that needs to be done that is not being done?’”